unbreakable
by blossomsdrenchedinblood
Summary: Hikage was abandoned by her only family and now at 16 fights to prove herself to her village, with complications, along with her first love-ish thing. it is way better then it sounds. first fanfic
1. Chapter 1

_unbreakable!_

AN: hi there! im new to fanfiction and im so freakin' excited so please oh please tell me what you think okay?, oh and hikage was a one year old when naruto and sasuke fought and lost their arms. now five years later naruto is hokage, married to hinata and sasuke is still gone and hikage is a six year old. I OWN NOTHING IF YOU SUE ME I WILL COUNTERSUE FOR WRONGFUL ACCUSATION AND EMOTIONAL DISTRESS or something like that

"traitor.."

"did you hear... scandalous..."

"should be removed from konohagukare..."

little Hikage Murakami's head snapped up at the anbu's words, tears still rolling down her little round face. _"nononono, oh no they wouldn't! would they?"_

a tiny choked sob escaped the six yer old's throat. she was so scared and sad and lonely. this coulndn't be happening. Sanami nee-chan would never betray the hidden leaf village it had to be a lie! but it wasn't. one of the last two living members of the Murakami clan had become a missing nin, abandoning her younger sister to take the fallout of her actions. Hikage was in the hokage tower waiting to be picked up for questioning by ibiki morino. she didn't like the idea of talking to him. he was a very scary man.

everyone looked at her funny. everyone figured it was just a matter of time before she followed in her sister's footsteps. nobody had seemed to care about Hikage or Sanami after their entire clan was killed on the front lines during the war against madara to protect the leaf village. nobody saw anything wrong with leaving one year old Hikage in the care of eleven year old Sanami. nobody reached out to help them. nobody paid any attention to them until Sanami had become a shinobi and even then they didn't give a damn about them anymore than any other clan's children. Sanami had to support and raise her baby sister with the apartment provided by the hokage, the little food a few merchants handed them out of pity and whatever money Sanami could make doing odd jobs around the village and later earned on missions. but supporting the two of them meant Sanami had to leave Hikage alone somewhere to make money. so she enrolled her one year old sister in the academy's early training/daycare program. they were from a shinobi caln and they both carried the will of fire in their blood. of course when Hikage was around four she started picking up easy odd jobs to try to help out. they got by. secretly Hikage pitied her poor nee-chan who never got to go out and have fun when she wasn't in school, and she felt guilty for how hard her sister had to work. she hated being a burden.

obviously, at the ripe old age of six, Hikage was confused and afraid when her sister didn't return from her latest mission. aside from Sanami nee-chan she had no one.

Hikage cried for days and did not speak for weeks when Sanami was offically presumed dead. Hikage had horrible nightmares about her sister's death every night she actually slept which was maybe two or three nights a week. nobody cared about Hikage enough to notice. she made her sister a plate of food at every meal and carried it all the way to the memmorial stone for shinbi and ate her food beside the empty grave of her sister, even when she got home late, so she had dinner late and the graveyard was dark and iy was stormy and scary. Hikage was on her way home from the acadamy when it hit her that she, Hikage murakami was the last of her clan. she needed to try harder to uphold her clan's honor. she worked and trained harder. she forced herself to speak to people when necassary. she still ate with her sister. she stopped letting herself cry in front of people. '_I am Hikage murakami, I will be the greatest shinobi in the world and my clan will live on!' _

then a team on the way to suna was attacked by a group of missing nin. Sanami Murakami was umong the attackers.

Hikage murakami was picked up by the anbu for questioning. the whole village suspected her to be a traitor. the merchants didn't give her pity food anymore after that.

four years later at the age of ten, Hikage still hated feeling like she was the least trusted citizen of konoha. she was angry at her sister. but Hikage was more angry at herself for wishing Sanami would come home. a part of her hated herself for the sheer undiluted joy she felt upon learning her sister was a traitoer because it meant her sister was alive. she would never allow herself to actually try to bring her home. she had to show everyone thet she and the murakami caln were loyal to the village even if _certain members_ of the clan didn't quite fit that mold. _cough_ only other living member of the clan _coughcough. _yesterday she had finally graduated from the academy and recieved her very own konoha forhead protector. she immediately replaced the navy blue cloth woth a black one since in keeping with her clan's customs as a second born she only wore black, purple and a little gray, just as Sanami nee-chan to this day even as a missing nin, only wore black and red because she was a first born. first child, red&black, second purple&black, third blue&black, and so on. this was _not_ to represent a rainbow, this was to represent the visible light spectrum. Hikage grinned at the mirror as she put on her _very own freakin' konoha forhead protector!_ she struggled to keep her thick dark esspresso brown hair from escaping and covering the leaf symbol. most of the headband was already covered by her hair but not the konoha symbol dammit! her dark grayish green eyes narrowed as she waged war on her unruly hair, shorter than some boy's wore it in the back. it was more shaggy than spikey but it did have a thick droopy spikes look in some places. her cheeks puffy with annoyance and her brows furrowed she convinced her hair to cover all the headband it wanted to so long as the symbol was visible. even th non-symbol parts of metal wer overtaken by hair. Hikage sweatdropped. she speant a good fifteen minutes brushing it seemingly to no avail. personally she wanted to grow it out, but it just refused to grow. she had managed to grow it to mid back but a small training incident involving a fireball jutsu had caused her to take a kunai to it to avoid her whole head catching fire. heheh. oops.

moving on from anything else involving her several slight traing mishaps, today she would be assighned a team and sensei! woot! _"this is so exciting, Sanami nee-chan would be so-"_ Hikage's mood took a nose dive, and she inwardly chastised herself for the thought. once she was all ready to go she climbed out her windwow and started roof hopping toward the academy. around halfway there, she sensed a surge of chakra on her left a second before the biggest explosion she had ever seen swallowed the woods by the gates of the village. konoha was under attack. Hikage's first instinct was to follow the protocal learned as a child in case of attack but she squashed it immediately. she was an official kunoichi. granted, it was her first day as a genin and some may argue that she still didn't count, but the wieght on her forhead said otherwise. it was her duty as a leaf shinobi to defend the village!

she started in the direction of the blast. she had traveled not even five miles when she came across the battle. Hikage froze at what she saw. fire and blood on every surrounding furface, weapons lodged in dead bodies, terrified civilians attempting to escape the horror before their eyes. her body stiffened further at the feeling of a malignant chakra coming at her fast from behind. she could hear a weapon being drawn. Hikage performed rapid hand sighns '_substitution jutsu' _several kunai stuck out of the log in her place. appearing behind her adversary, she landed an impressive spinning kick while retreiving a kunai from her pouch. she landed in a crouch with a kunai in each hand as she and her oponent stared each other down. the man easily topped six feet, muscles bulging, dark eyes shifting, the scratched out rock village symbol on his forhead protector glinted in the sunlight as he charged. Hikage figured he had to be a pretty lousy ninja, seeing as he had hoplessly failed to conceal his chakra, not to mention his size. a shinobi needed to be in top physical condition at all times but this guys muscular build would be more of a hinderence then a help as a shinobi. he was too big to move as fast as he had to, his body made loud thumps when he roofhopped, he was just a big useless brute with minimal training, she decided. she ducked to the side and swung her kunai to stab the back of his neck, brainstem, spine both would be severed and the idiot would drop dead. however, his fist came crashing toward her and as she dodged her kunai ended up in his right shoulder, still getting hit but avoiding the full impact of the blow. Hikage palmed the ground as she summersaulted away. she aimed a shuriken and threw it, to see it stick in the wall beside the buffoon.

then the world went black, and thousands of eyeballs surrounded her, whispers joining them. "ugh..ack!" pain in her upper left thigh and in her stomach. then Hikage heard the thumping. "KAI" she shouted, dispelling what had to be the most pathetic genjutsu in existance. she performed the handsighns shoutoing, "fireball jutsu!'' the buffoon staggered backward, and Hikage yanked the kunai from her thigh then her stomach to find the shuriken she had hidden in the flames had all landed in random places around the buffooon (her offical nickname for the oversized excuse for a shinobi)

"hahaha, foolish child failing to land a single blade..." the buffoon cackled like a hoarse madman.

"yeah, that would seriously suck if you were the target." Hikage replied with a lopsided smirk.

the buffoon stopped laughing to raise an eyebrow as Hikage snapped her fingers, leeping to another rooftop and activating the exploding tags she kept attatched to all of her kunai and shuriken many of which she had scattered all around the buffoon. the building they had stood on and the much taller building beside it collapsed due to the explosion, so even if the explosions failed to kill him, being buried in rubble would.

"fucking moron."

unfortunately she slipped on a loose shingle and dislocated two fingers on her left hand catching herself, added with the gihugic bruise on her side, her bleeding stomach wound, her bleeding leg wound, halfway depleted chakra, and the fact that she was technically late for her first day as a genin plus the battle being far from over did not bode well at all. Hikage was so glad she constantly studied the first and second generation of sanin because she had memorized almost every stradegy and skill they had used as genin for inspiration and the second snake sanin, (uchiha something or other) had invented the idea of hiding shuriken in flames. posatively brilliant.

Hikage quickly learned she was out of her leage. she threw kunai, shuriken and every jutsu she knew, seemingly at random targets. she carried an unconcious leaf shinobi to the emergency war of the hospital. but she was nothing compared to pretty much every other shinobi there. konoha was going to win. she hadn't made much of a difference at all. she was in a lot of pain. she was damn near out of chakra. but she was having the thrill of her life fighting for her home. proving herself.

then it happened. Hikage couldn't move. she couldn't breathe. because the missing nin she was looking at was (you guessed it) her sister. Sanami Murakami. Sanami nee-chan. Hikage's body trembled. her chest constricted painfully. tears burned at the back of her eyes. she did not let them fall. Sanami didn't notice her as she was fighting a konoha shinobi at the time. a blond woman wearing lots of purple with her hair covering one eye that carried a strong scent of flowers. Sanami was focused on her current fight. Hikage's eyes landed on a kunai in the dirt beside her. if she came at Sanami with it right now while the twenty year old missing nin wasn't paying attention she would have a fair chance at killing her. she reached for the weapon and stopped. she could not close her hand around the handle. memories swam through her conciousness. Sanami scaring a bully away from Hikage. Sanami lifting her up on a stool at ichiraku ramen. Sanami teaching her to use her chakra. Sanami teaching her to use the Murakami clan's kekai genkai.(you'll see it later) Hikage realized that she didn't want Sanami to die. and that in its self felt like a betrayal to konoha. a weakness. at that moment Sanami unsheathed her katana, the beautifull gold handle wrapped in lovely deep red silk, the sharp blade glinting in the light like a twinkling star, and stabbed the blond shinobi who tried to get out of the way in the right side of her upper abdomen, even a medical dummy like Hikage knew she had punctured the woman's lung. Hikage was openly suprised when Sanami was thrown backward along with the earth under their feet.

"HELL YEAH!" a feminene voice bellowed. a pink haired woman had a fist to the ground. Hikage gasped. it was uchiha sakura, the second slug sanin!

uchiha sakura, _the_ uchiha sakura was right in front of her. she was in awe. meanwhile sakura rushed to the blond woman's side, removed the katana, and with glowing hands started healing her. if sanin are involved th battle was worse then Ithought, Hikage mused. did that mean...? a loud clang erupted directly in front of her and she saw a massive red armer clad toad. she sure as hell knew what _that _meant the hokage had arrived. shit just got real.

apparently Sanami and the rest of the missing nin felt the same because they turned tail and fled.

"H-Hokage sama! thanks-I-I mean thank youvery much lord hokage, sir!" Hikage uttered with a low bow.

"HAHA Im just glad nobody was killed. the hidden leaf village is the greatest village ever! BELEIVE IT!" naruto shouted to the genin two feet away from him.

Hikage really liked the seventh hokage. he was one of the most powerful ninja inthe universe but he was also the nicest person she had ever met.

her eyes fell upon Sanami's abandoned katana. '_this sword... has been abandoned by Sanami nee-chan... I have been abandoned by Sanami nee-chan... this katana will be mine now. this inanimate object of killing and i will find strength in each other. we will find comfort in knowing we have both been abandoned and survived. together.' _Hikage became even more determined to be the greatest. but there was something she needed to do first.

Hikage approached the hokage and kneeled doewn. naruto stared down at the ten year old genin in confusion. her hands trembled. she hurt everywhere. she was struggling to stay awake due to severe chakra depletion. but this was omething she had to do.

"hokage sama..." she trailed off. then she looked up still on one knee and looked naruto right in the eyes, then lifted her sister's-no her katana and stabbed her leg through bone, the blade sticking out the back of her leg, deep red blood pooling, running down her leg, the mettalic, sick scent permeateing the air. she went on in a marginally stronger voice.

"hokage sama I swear on this oath of pain that my loyalty and the loyalty of my clan lies soley with konohagakure. I will never do anything against the hidden leaf village. you certainly don't need it, but you have my permission to kill me if I break my word hokage sama." she spoke so everyone could hear without yelling. everyone stared. unable to hold out anymore Hikage stood, bowed turned away, took two and a half steps, and promptly passed out.


	2. white eyes and dog breath

Unbreakable chapter2

AN :okay after this chapter Hikage will be sixteen but I think you should see her first day with her genin team. Please review!

Four days six hours and eleven minutes. Hikage was losing her mind stuck in this stupid hospital.

Wasn't it bad enough that she was holding up her team? (the first day had been postponed until she was out of the hospital) great. Not even the first day and she was already proving to be a hindrance to her teammates. Not only had she gotten scolded repeatedly by several adults, but she had fainted in front of the hokage! Of all the humiliating bull… so anyway today Hikage would be released from prison, ..er… the hospital. So the door slides open and Hikage sits up and puts on a serious face, which almost inastantly turned to wide eyed open mouthed gaping when THE FIRST GENERATION SLUG SANIN TSUNADE FREAKING SENJU walked into her cage…er..hospital room...? suddenly it occurred to her that she should stand, or bow or at least say something and stop making a damn fool of herself in front of one of the legendary three. Hikage hopped off the bed and opened her mouth to speak but what came out was,

"kyaaaaaaaa! Ohmigod it's-this is-your!-your YOU! I-I mean…!" Hikage prattled like a hapless fangirl.

"hmph, my, my, your feeling … lively today. How are you doing Murakami san?" the blond woman sweatdropped anime style at the now embarrassed genin.

"u-um, I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much, Tsunade sama", Hikage's light tan face was bright pink as she mumbled her response.

"well, your officially free to go and-" Tsunade's hair flew back as the red faced girl darted past her.

_"oh my freakin god I am so freaking stupid! That did not just happen! I am such an IDIOT! Wait…oh no I'm late! Gotta hurry up!"_

Hikage ran faster stopping at her home to shower put on cloths grab her weapons and- she paused at the door hesitating to take the katana with her. Then she gritted her teeth stiffened her knees and snatched the sword from it's place beside the door and roof hopped to the training grounds. She finally made it with a minute and four seconds to spare, training ground nine. She stopped at the bridge and looked at her reflection in the water below. She liked the look in her gray green eys. Hard. Steely. Uncompromising. Left hand on her hip, right clutching her katana, covered partly in her own dried blood. She looked tough as hell. The side of her mouth quirked upward. Then Hikage whrled around sensing an approaching chakra. A boy around her age with short light brown hair and red triangles on his face. She wasn't a moron. She knew what the Inuzukas looked like. There it was. His ninken. A scruffy brown puppy that happened to be way smaller than Hikage expected. The boy was running like he was being chased yet there was nobody behind him. He turned to shout something to the puppy beside him and she turned her attention back to the water. It really was pretty, nice and clear blue, a few colorful fish darting around, little ripples caused by the leaves falling silently on the surface of the water…

BAM!

The boy slammed into her. That freakin' moron. The moron erm, mongrel, mongrel moron… okay, mongrel moron was now on the ground with Hikage standing in front of him looking calm and scornful at the same time. The moron stood up brushing himself off and glaring at Hikage as if she bumped into him. A pair of big brown dough eyes glared at her. She glared back. Hikage took notice of the barest hint of nervousness in his stare as he glared at her and reveled in it. this mutt was intimidated by her. then she found herself distracted by the weirdest little nise, high-pitched purring? now like an itsy bitsy rumble? both genin turned their heads towards the noise, Hikage out of curiousity, the mutt man, er_ mutt boy_ seemingly out of irritation. then Hikage realized the puppy was growling at her. how silly, how impudent, how absolutely _adorable!_ it was even showing it's widdle teeth!

''quiet chachamori!" the bot snapped. the tiny beast went silent.

"aawww, it's so cute, hey there widdle puppy~.'' Hikage cooed at the dog. she was posatively beaming at this point,she didn't see many dogs around, or if she did her attention was other wise involved.

the Inuzuka took affense for some reason.

"he is not cute. he's a badass his nama is chachamori." he sounded more sulky than angry.

Hikage giggled as the puppy tentively sniffed her outstretched was it for her. no more holding back. she scooped the mass of brown fur into her arms and cuddled it with a silly smile, katana abandoned beside her. the little beast was so soft!

"tch, of course." came a new agitated sounding, oh so superior voice.

Hikage's head turned and her mind went into over drive.

'_hyuuga, those eyes are a dead give away, same hight as me, chakra reserves a little bigger, less muscle than me, probably the type to underestimate an opponent... byakugan? maybe not yet.' _

how had she not felt him coming? or heard him? how long had he been there? he was kinda pretty. she admitted to herself. everyone would tell her hyuugas had white eys but she saw the palest shade of lilac in hispale orbs, complemented beautifully by his dark violet mop top hair, he wore his headband as an armband, she noted,the metal standing out against his long sleeved v-necked cream colored shirt. his shinobi sandals wereas black as his shorts,(below his knees) although most genein wore navy blue sandals. he lacked the caged bird seal she had read about. he smelled like powdered sugar whereas the Inuzaka smelled like rain. he stared at her with a dispassionate air, like he really didn't give a damn about anything in front of him. actually he looked a little smug somehow.

"you can come out now, I know your there. _sensei._" he drawled the words lazily.

wait wha? a poof of smoke later and they were looking at a tall pale jonin with a black belly shirt, black hair and a seriously creepy smile.

"it took you three so long to notice... you aren't very intelligent are you?"

all three were vissably offended.

"so, first things first lets get to know each other shall we? names likes dislikes dreams hobbies that sort of thing. lets start with you, dogboy", he gestured to the Inuzuka.

"fine by me. names Inuzuka seichi, I like girls, I dislike cats, no hobbies, this is chachamori, he likes pork, he hates the smell of oranges."

Hikage took it upon herself to go next.

"hi, my name is Murakami Hikage, I like power. I hate traitors, liars, and all forms of disloyalty. I've recently started training with a katana."

"I am Hyuuga Katori, I don't like much, and I dislike spicy food. I am not a member of the Hyuuga clan. don't ask me about my business."

the genin looked expectantly at their sensei. he stared bak at them.

"so tell us about yourself sensei. it's only fair." Hikage said the words softly but they all heard the silent threat. sai nearly scoffed.

"i'm sai. I like art. I don't like insubbordination and I won't tolerate it. now that thats ot of the way, i want to see what you've got. lets spar. who wants to take on a jonin? dogboy, butch-baka, or prissy little prick?"

'_did he just call me a manly idiot?!'_ Hikage seethed inwardly. the boys didn't love their new nicknames either.

"SAI-SENSEI YOU ASSWHOLE!'' three voices chorused.

and so team nine was formed.

AN:okay so in the next chapter she is sixteen, i just thought you should meet her team. and her first love-ish guy. please review. I OWN NOTHING. FUCKING DUH. so anyway we won't be seeing sanami for the next chapter. question ; why is katori a hyuuga with hinata's hair color, but no seal or clan member ship? guess right and I'll smile. please read & review. kakashi might die if you don't. JK, JK, or was it? O.o


	3. bell test and rainy days

AN: okay so here we are! Hikage and her team are sixteen and the action can start! Team nine are all chunin, and it's time they took charge of their own training from now on. Hint hint. yowamushi-chibi = little wimp ojii-san = grandpa kutabare = go to hell aho= moron I OWN NOTHING

_Chapter three: she's so gone_

Hikage steeled herself. This was it. She was ready for this. She tugged down the hem of her shirt. It kept on riding up. Anyway, Hikage lifted her fist and knocked on the door. She could handle this, she was a sixteen year old chunin. Not a simpering ten year old genin. She was shivering, trembling, stuttering, gulping, and twiddling her index fingers with fear and nervousness on the inside. but on the outside she was calm, cool and confident. Her face was emotionless, her heart rate was slow and even, her movements deliberate and sure.(no trembling or fidgeting in sight)

Finally, footsteps approached and the damn door opened to reveal Uchiha Sakura. Awesome, but not the person she was here to see. Hikage inclined her head respectfully.

"Sakura-sama."

"oh, hello, is there something I can…?" the pinkette trailed off raising an eyebrow.

"no. yes. _Huff_ is Uchiha Sasuke here?"

"yes he is-"

"who are you?" a male voice cut the slug sanin off from inside the house.

Sasuke uchiha was the snake sanin. He was powerful. Hikage wanted him to take her as an apprentice. She squared her shoulders, intwined her hands, pressed them to her knees and bowed low.

"Uchiha-sama, please make me your apprentice." Hikage's voice was steady strong and a good volume. And never wavered in the slightest.

Sasuke's face didn't change. "no."

Hikage's hands clenched. she couldn't really be surprised. this man had turned against the village for years, at one point hoped to destroy it, and when the fool seemed as if he was finally coming to his senses he left, again, and had recently announced his return. he had a wife and child in konoha and was _just now_ officially returning. so be it beneath him to train a leaf shinobi, thus actually being of some help to konoha. what a jerk.

"I implore you to reconsider uchiha-_sama" _she was still calm and under control but for a second there she had lost it and sarcastically emphasized the suffix sama.

"no."

"you don't take apprentices? I don't understand uchiha-sama."

"I'll gladly train someone who is worth my tutelage."

Hikage was silent. worth his tutelage? _worth his tutelage?!_

"I hardly think a former traitor gets to pass judgement on wothines of a loyal shinobi. but if your man enough to challenge me I would be _happy_ to prove my _worth._" she sneered the words through her teeth.

that statement got a reaction. dark eyes narrowed at her and a smirk fell upon his face. Hikage almost felt bad. she shouldn't challenge a one armed man to a fight. it wasn't fair. she hated people who picked on those weaker than themselves.

"I accept you challenge, yowamushi-chibi." the bastard sounded amused.

Hikage still held a stoic stance and calm facial expression. but her eyes held fire. she was pissed.

"**KUTABARE!** ojii-saaaaan!" nobody called her a wimp.

"alright. meet me at the training grounds in an hour. yowamushi-chibi."

then, ignoring his gaping wife, he slammed the door in Hikage's face.

she went to go get ready. she placed her sheathed katana at her back so she could reach over her shoulder and grab it. her kunai/shuriken pouches on both of her thighs and both of her calves. she removed the training weights from her legs and arms. she meditated and did chakra exercises. then she left and arrived at the training grounds early.

he was waiting for her.

"okay, here's the rules, if you can take one of these bells from me, I'll train you. if you can't, you'll never ask to be my apprentice ever again. got it? yowamushi-chibi?"

Hikage nodded and ran at him, _shadow clone jutsu!_

_"sharingan!" _

oh, shit.

* * *

><p>okay, Hikage was completely out of her league. she knew that, she wasn't an idiot, but no way was she backing down. the guy only had one arm so the odds were theoretically already on her side. Hikage wanted to slap herself, she wasn't even being asked to win! all she had to do was get her hands on one of those damn bells.<p>

* * *

><p>Hikage Murakami was getting her ass kicked. she had tried everything and was running low on chakra, and the uchiha was barely injured. she had managed to land a few minor attacks, but she couldn't catch up to him. the bastard was just so stupidlyfreakin' fast! and not to mention that repugnant sharingan. he wasn't using his reennigan or even the full power of the sharingan. but is she could beat him, Hikage mused, the whole ordeal would be a bit redundant. the idea of being trained by a sanin was to get better not to learn a few tricks from someone she was already stronger than.<p>

"I can still see you yowamushi-chibi"

"transparency jutsu, release!"

she appeared on his right, his left and ten feet over his head. all three of her had the katana drawn. the uchiha didn't bat an eye, using the infamous kusanagi taking out the shadow clone to his right, swinging around for the one on his left and raising his arm to clash blades with her as she descended upon him from above. he was knocked back by her feet slamming outward to kick his chest, as Hikage twisted still in the air, andreached for a bell on his belt while his only arm was busy. an uchiha shadow clone almost killed her but she sensed it with a second to spare, and used one arm to launch a few shuriken at it. it poofed away. sasuke kicked her abdomen really hard. she was going to pass out if things didn't turn around.

"_shadow clone jutsu!"_ two shadow clones joined Hikage

"_ninja art pheonix flame!" _three identical voices shouted.

she ran at him as he was avoiding three fire attacks. uchiha was impressive. not many could perform hand sighns with one arm and still manage powerful was impressed by him, and begrudgingly admitted to herself that she respected him but by no means did she like him. he was a jerk.

"_mongekyo sharingan"_ what? he could still do that? crapcrapcrap!

"_raining senbons!" _Hikage loved the raining senbons. took her weeks to master it but it was so useful.

sasuke disapeared with a poof when the senbons hit. she turned in a circle looking for him. then Hikage ducked just in time to avoid the full effect of that damn chidori.. her chakra levels were dangerously low. this was it. there was no other way. she searched withen herself. she had to do it. Hikage prepared to activate her kekai genkai her bloodline limit. the power of the Murakami clan.

"_mugen no masuta!" _Hikage shouted as her chakra exploded and expanded.

the mugen no masuta increased everything. chakra was a thousand times stronger, senses a thousand times better. and this was only level two. it hurt like hell to use it, and risked damaging vital chakra points. she could only hold it for so long, and would be helpless for hours when it was deactivated. it made her veins glow under her skin, so she looked a bit it also made her intensly powerful, and made it nearly impossible for sharingan or byakugan to look at her chakra for too long. it would be like staring at the sun. she healed fast. (like how the kyuubi heals naruto fast) Hikage threw several jutsu at the uchiha, along with attacking using her katana, her speed now on par with his own. he looked stunned. it was her turn to smirk. he summoned manda, the huge snake, but she handled it easily in a couple minutes. unfortunately, she was almost out of time. that snake was tough as all get out. she threw herself at her adversary with everything she had. she had to get one of those bells! he still managed to fight her. she felt herself reach her limit and did something she hadn't done in a while. she pushed it. bad move.

she was just_ so close_ her fingers grazed the bell before her body froze. she gasped. then Hikage fell to her knees clutching her head as she let out a long blood curdling scream. then she suddenly stopped, and made a *ghk* sound as blood spurted from her mouth and ears and she fell on her back unconcious, probably dying. again. this had not gone well at all.

* * *

><p>when hikage woke she was in the hospital again. dammit all. she might as well start paying rent. several medics, hyuugas, and hyuuga medics, crowded the room. tsunade was there along with sakura and uzumaki hinata. and- ah, hell. katori stood stiffly in the corner of the room. that half frown on his face, eyebrows pushed together, fingers dribbling on his crossed arms. for a sort of hyuuga, he sucked at hiding his feelings.<p>

"AHOOOO!" katori was shouting incoherently at that point.

'_I hate it when katori visits me in the hospital..." _Hikage sweat dropped.

"HIKAGE-CHAAAAAAN! ARE YOU OKAY?! ARE YOU RESTING?! (seichi jumped onto her hospital bed and shook her) DID YOU WIN?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

seichi inuzuka was many things. he was just not subtle, considerate, or particularly intelligent. everyone in the room sweat dropped.

'_seriously, who keeps telling my team when I get stuck in the hospital? is there some weird team nine alert system I don't know about?'_

those two...

"how are you butch baka?" and sai sensei had arrived. Hikage face palmed.

* * *

><p>the next week...<p>

it looked like it would rain but it probably wouldn't. she dressed and made her way out of the hospital.

it was one of those blue gray rainy sunsets.

Hikage was at the front doors of the hospital, when she noticed katori waiting for her just outside.

"Hikage."

"katori? what are you doing here?"

"oh, I, ah, your such a weak moron I had to go out of my way to walk you home like a preschooler."

she failed to notice the light pink across his face.

"kutabare!" Hikage proceeded to turn away and stomp toward home.

katori followed her. it was drizzling now, a couple drops of water meeting the earth every few seconds. Hikage felt his hand clamp down on her shoulder and snapped her head around to face him. silvery white lilac stared into grayish green. katori had pretty eyes. why hadn't she noticed that before? she turned to face him fully. neither moved. katori broke eye contact first, staring at his where black pants tucked into his shinobi sandals (like alternate sasuke in road to ninja). he slowly rose his eyes to meet hers with his head still ducked down, looking at Hikage through his dark violet bangs. he really was gorgeous, and in theory Hikage had always known that, but he just fit his surroundings so well, the world around them all grays purples and blues,

"Hikage, I..." he trailed off still looking at her through his hair. he was so- '_wait! what the hell am i thinking?! this is KATORI I'm talking about!'_

"ah... I have to go, bye!" she turned and ran.


	4. SEICHI & TRAINING

_Chapter four_

Hikage ran and ran, she didn't know where she was going and she didn't really care.

'_what the hell what the hell what the hell?! Did that just happen? What was that? KATORI YOU IDIOT! KUTABARE!'_

Hikage found herself standing in the middle of the training grounds in the rain, at night, alone. She turned her face toward the sky and closed her eyes. So much had happened. She had landed herself in the stupid hospital for a week for nothing. And the thing with katori… hey wait a minute! The thing was nothing! Nothing happened he was being his stupid self and she stormed off he followed like he always did, he touched her shoulder, they stared at each other, she left. Hikage frowned. He called her a wimp again. She hated that. It kind of hurt. She always hated it no matter who said it but it didn't really hurt to hear it. Like with the stupid snake sanin- her eye twithched

"graaaaaaaaaaawr!" she screamed/growled to the sky. She failed. She lost to a traitor. She got stuck in the hospital.

Hikage never really wanted to train with the uchiha, but he was her best possible option. She didn't want to learn to be a medic, super strength or not, besides, she didn't have the chakra control for it. In a perfect scenario, she would train with the hokage, naruto uzumaki, but like, get real. The hokage was well, the hokage y'know. Strongest ninja, busy with his official duties and his wife and kids. That bolt needed all the attention he could get from his father. she didn't want to embarrass herself by getting rejected by him right off the bat. So that left the traitor. Hikage may not like him, but he was strong, and knew how to handle a katana, so that was an added bonus. So she went for the only reasonable option and failed. Hikage felt tears burn at the back of her eyes and forced them back. She took a deep breath and, as if on instinct, drew her katana.

Hikage was a superb fighter. She wasn't the best of the best but she was maybe the average of the best. She started with basic warm up katas. Then she moved into more advanced katas until she was working on the most intricate ones she knew. The storm provided good atmosphere to the scene. She changed it up, combining katas and adding summersaults and personal moves. She channeled chakra into her feet and moved up the side of a tree and summersaulted down and continued her practice. She did the hand signs and created a shadow clone. They did duel katas. Hikage sheathed her sword. Then she worked on her jutsu. Water style, to fit the storm. She circulated her chakra before attempting to activate her blood limit.

"_mugen no masuta!"_ she held in a gasp as her chakra inclined higher and higher. Then she reached her current limit, level two. Chakra a thousand times stronger. Senses better. Hikage went on with her training with her kekai genkai activated. She held out for a couple minutes before she had to stop. she wasn't hurt. she just had to rest.

'_weak... useless... a hindrance to my team...' _

Hikage ducked her head and forced herself to keep training.

rapid hand signing. astonishingly easy to do. astonishing that she hadn't fainted. flying kicks, round house kicks, spinning kicks, punching and sparring shadow clones. pushing farther in the storm.

kneeling on the cold muddy ground.

'_ninja art, water dragons!'_

_'fire style phoenix flower jutsu!'_

_'mugen no masuta!'_

she tried every jutsu she knew and every jutsu she had ever seen done. some she mastered. some she didn't. Hikage was shocked and confused by one thing though. she was awake, she had pushed way too hard.

and yet she had never felt better in her life.

Hikage grinned into the storm. fist pumping commenced.

"take that Katori-baka! KUTABAAAAAREEEEEE!" Hikage shrieked into the night with everything she had.

Hikage felt amazing. she wanted more. she wanted power. she wanted to be a true asset to the village hidden in the leaves. that was the moment she decided. she was going to _face the hokage._ it was kind of her duty.

* * *

><p>in the morning, Hikage got up showered and got dressed. she yanked a brush through her coarse, espresso colored mane of hair and strapped her holsters into place. katana at her back, she roof hopped her way to hokage tower. as a shinobi it was her duty to be her best for her village. training under the hokage would make her better. she had to do this. a shinobi had to be their absolute best for the village, and she would withoit a doubt be way better with training from the hokage. she had to try. it was her duty. she made her way past secretaries and anbu, and knocked on the door. then when she got no response she let herself in.<p>

"Hikage murakami, chunin, primarily water style..." the blond man looked exhausted, that much was obvious. then Hikage realized he was waiting for her to say something.

Hikage kneeled on one knee.

"lord hokage, please let me be your apprentice. I might not be a particularly good ninja but- its just that- (she took a breathe and looked naruto in the eyes still kneeling) I believe I am capable of being worthy given the chance. I'm by no means weak or lazy. I can live up to any standard you give me. but for me to do that you'd have to give me this chance."

Hikage had tears in her eyes when she finished. she refused to let them fall. the hokage looked surprised. not really shocked but surprised. Hikage stared at him as he rose out of his chair. the almost jumped/flinched when he loudly slammed his hand down on the desk. now he had the famous Naruto grin shining on his face.

"alright! your in kid, I'm with you a hundred percent! your gonna do great with_ me_ as your sensei. BELIEVE IT!" Naruto bellowed like he did as a twelve year old.

for a second Hikage froze. her eyes bugged and her mouth gaped. then she smiled wider than she had in ten years. she fist pumped and shouted and in a rare loss of composure hopped across the desk and hugged the hokage still shouting like crazy. Hikage was laughing and jumping and people had come in the room at the sound of shouting to make sure that nobody was trying to kill the hokage and now they were staring at her. naruto laughed.

"good timing! everybody I'd like you to meet my new official apprentice! say hi Hikage-chan!"

Hikage turned to the small crowd still beaming brightly. she bowed respectfully in a bouncy way. "hello I am murakami Hikage, and I- I'm the hokage's apprentice! me! I am now training under the hokage!"

everyone was viably confused and clapped really slow.

"alright training will start tomorrow at dawn be there!"

"yea!"

* * *

><p>Hikage, after jumping out the window of the hokage tower ran off to buy celebratory chocolate taiyaki and mugicha, then headed for the training grounds. her calm stoic face was back.<p>

* * *

><p>she walked to the training grounds, face tranquil, eyes shimmering with happiness. Hikage perched herself on a big branch of one of the many pink petal covered sakura trees and enjoyed her treat. then she sensed the familiar chakra of seichi and chachamori approaching. Hikage teleported to their side in a whirlwind of leaves.<p>

"hikage, what are you doing here? I thought you were still all pissy abou getting your ass kicked by the traitor", seichi leaned on chacha-kun(Hikage's nickname for chachamori)

"shut up mutt face for your information I'm now the hokage's apprentice. jerk."

"woah really? that's awesome."

Hikage proceeded to pet the brown horse sized dog beside seichi. chacha-kun had grown from the cute little puppy she had met as a genin. Hikage playfully pushed at his muzzle and skipped around him, the three of them ended up playing chase for a good hour. the three of them seichi hikage and chachamori collapsed in a shaded patch of grass.

"ah, I still remember the day I met you and chacha-kun, seichi you haven't changed a bit you brat."

"oh yeah, the genin days that takes me back. I had the biggest crush on you back then."

at that Hikage whipped around and slapped his arm.

"tch, oh shut up, you did not. sreichi baka."

"nah, its true I did you just never noticed. you can be pretty thick headed about some stuff Hikage-_chan _."

she just grumbled quietly. seichi laughed. chacha-kun was fast asleep. they relived team nine moments like when they all tried out the curry of life together. that was hilarious. seichi started licking every surface he could get his tongue on, katori went bright red and passed out sputtering (apparently hyuugas don't like spicy food) hikage glared at her bowl with a sweaty red face and forced herself to eat the whole bowl. sai sensei actually kind of liked it. further proof of how weird he was. then they talked about the mission where katori ended up being forced to disguise himself as a girl. that was a long and funny story.

"so how's the thing going?" Hikage had been telling herself she'd say something for a while now.

"the thing?"

"y'know, the whole, ah, no *mumble*"

"what? oh! no babies. they aren't happy, but I mean who gives a damn, haha."

Hikage noticed that he was looking away, and wondered if he was being truthful to himself. inuzukas cared about the ability to reproduce, possibly because of the whole dog obsession.

" I gotta go. later Hikage-_chan_" seichi gave an exaggerated wink and jogged away. to be honest Hikage felt lonely at his departure.

she really wanted to see Katori. there. she said it. she missed him and his pale eyes and dark violet miraculously silky always perfectly mussed hair. Katori and his overblown ego and rare smile.

**'what the hell?!**'

Hikage was no expert on feelings. that didn't matter. 'cause she had training tomorrow and needed to get some rest so for now...

"KATORI!KUTABAREEEEE!"


	5. botched day of training

Hey everybody! So nobodys been reviewing… please review! I OWN NOTHING

Hikage got up earlier than usual. It was still pitch black outside.

Shower, brush teeth, brush hair, put on cloths, sharpen weapons, review scrolls, meditate, grab food, run out door to training grounds.

was she forgetting something? something she had been thinking about the night before... BAM!

Hikage found herself sitting on the ground. dang it. she did it again sai sensei had taught the whole team nine to cast a genjutsu on themselves to erase memories they didn't want, and Hikage was a little in the habit of using it uh...'liberally (way too often)

so she continued on her way to her first day with time to spare. she hopped down from her tree and waited.

"finally! your here! Hey Hikage-chan!" and there stood the loud blonde hokage, arriving after her and acting all surprised to see her. he was so cool!

then she took note that his wife and both of his kids were right behind him. ?

"ah, naruto- sama?"

"sensei" he reminded her with his trademark grin even at four fifty in the morning.

"right. naruto-sensei!" now Hikage was grinning right back.

it was pretty odd to see an entire family up and about at sunrise. kids included. the little girl didn't look fully awake yet, but baruto was lively as ever. Hikage knew the kid, she babysat him and little sarada uchiha as d rank missions in the past. she liked him well enough but anyone paying the slightest bit of attention could tell he wanted more time with his father. he was sweet though, and when he was around five he had a crush on Hikage but he got over it quickly. he even confided in her his new crush on a certain glasses wearing sharingan user. adorable. he smiled a lot.

he wasn't smiling now. he looked pout-y.

"what makes _her_ so special?"

"bolt", hinata chided quietly with a warning look.

"hmph" the blond boy went back to sulking. naruto gave his son a look before folding his arms behind his head and giving Hikage an apologetic glance.

"he's fine, really," Hikage felt bad for the brat sometimes.

"so Hikage-chan, before I forget, I wanted to ask you when you last visited the murakami compound?"

wow. they had a compound? part of her had always assumed they did but it felt weird to have it confirmed. so of course she responded in an intelligent and thought out manner.

"no effin' way we had a compound?! seriously?!"

"*sigh* yes, the murakami clan, like all official clans in konoha, have their own compound. I ask because I was looking over your file and noticed you were from the clan that I honestly thought was extinct. I understand that your clans kekkai genkkai was pretty difficult to use and chances are your family kept some kind of record on it. _pssst hinata was that right? did I say everything we went over?"_

"well I guess its fairly obvious that I have never even heard of a murakami compound. sanami-nee never-"

Hikage cut her self off. now she was glaring at the ground clenching her fists. she didn't want to remember sanami right now. why the hell would she keep something like that from her anyway? no. do not think about that traitor.

himawari was more awake now and her mother watched her chase after her brother. Hikage hoped they would always be there for each other.

naruto clapped his hands loudly and gave Hikage a thumbs up with a grin.

"okay then your first task is to go to the murakami compound while I keep both my promises and spend time with my kids. BYE!"

_did he just ditch me?_

the family of four was already two blocks away, naruto dragging hinata and carrying both of his kids.

_'okay... the hokage isn't exactly what I expected... but he is still AMAZING!'_ Hikage never could bring herself to dislike the hokage. that was _so_ beside the point. he couldn't just get her all revved up for a day of training with the hokage then tell her to go pay a visit to her 'childhood home' that was completely unfair!

"hey! where'd he go?!" Hikage fumed to no one in particular

and so she marched off to go find her sensei/hokage and demand he teach her something amazing, dammit!

with that thought firmly set in her mind Hikage searched for the blond and his family. eventually it dawned on her that the hokage was powerful but he had one big obvious weakness. it was so stupid of her not to think of this to begin with! Hikage changed direction and closed in on her target.

she arrived in front of ichiraku ramen with time to spare. she timed herself all the time no matter where she was going.

"Aha! _there_ you are you senile old toad-!" Hikage stopped her angry tirade for two reasons.

one; she suddenly remembered just who the hell she was talking to (the hokage _and_ sanin _and_ kyuubi container)

two; the sight before her made Hikage take pause without thinking.

the family of four was laughing and chatting, all smiling, naruto ruffled bolt's hair affectionately and held himawari, while talking to his wife. bolt had his dad's attention. naruto was with his family. she was so jealous it hurt.


	6. the clan and hikage's honor

AN ; so, I really love reviews. Like every other writer in existence. remember, kutabare means go to hell. So pweeeeeeeeeese review! Please. I mean that. So, on with it!

Hikage couldn't bear to keep looking at the happy family. she promptly fled before anyone noticed her. she never had what those people had, a mom and dad, a warm house, food she didn't have to work for purchase and cook herself.

even when her sister had been around, there wasn't money to keep the apartment warm, sanami didn't cook much and she was her sister not her parent.

Hikage didn't know where she was going. she stopped running and moved way slower. she decided that no matter the reason, the hokage told her to find the compound so she had no choice. Hikage didn't even know where the thing was. she was only a couple blocks from erizu's.

Erizu was the daughter of a merchant near Hikage's apartment building. she was a civilian of seventeen years that had married at fifteen to a young man who owned a little sweet shop. Hikage had been surprised when her friend got married and shocked when she got pregnant a few months later. erizu had a cute baby boy last year. she was a slender female who wore soft looking berri colored lipstick and an apron that only covered the bottom half of her usual flowy dresses. the apron was white with light green trim. it had two pockets. she had light pumpkin orange hair (same style as mikoto) and always wore a gold circular locket her mother had given her years before.

she and Hikage were very different people.

as fate would have it, by some miracle, a civilian had once asked Hikage to marry him. that was never going to happen for a lot of reasons. the most important ones included the fact that she was an independent kunoichi not a cute little house wife. she was the only murakami in the village, so erm... 'reviving the clan' was up to her. she knew few male shinobi would be willing to take a woman's last name but she was sure she would find one. she personally felt that she wasn't ready for marriage yet. not to mention the fact that the guy who asked her was like, twenty seven. gross, creepy, the list went on and on.

* * *

><p><strong>flash back (about two months earlier)<strong>

**Hikage laughed as seichi and chacha-kun raced ahead of her and Katori. training was over and team nine was ready to get some food. Hikage was looking forward to some chocolate taiyaki. she knew seichi wanted barbeque and katori wanted sushi but she didn't feel bad for dragging them along with her. **

**at the entrance of the best place for taiyaki, they were intercepted by a man with bright orange eyes and dark hair. Hikage vaguely recognized him as a guy who owned a bar or something not far from her apartment. **

**"Hikage-san please marry me."**

**"..." seichi didn't say anything for once. **

**"...?!" katori was visibly irked.**

**"um, I'm sorry what? who are you again?" Hikage was surprised and confused.**

**"I'm akikawa takeshi, and I want you to marry me. it would be for the best, I've seen you around for a long time and I really like you. you wouldn't have to work anymore. you could retire as a shinobi and be a stay at home mom-"**

**Hikage had to stop him there. now she was insulted and creeped out.**

**"Kutabare! no! no way! as if I'd seriously... ew! and just who the hell do you think you are?! I am an independent kunoichi of konoha, and you are some creepy civilian, don't talk to me as if you know me!" Hikage was yelling now.**

**then that idiot really messed up. he was clearly about to say something as he grabbed her shoulders. but as Hikage was about to kick his civilian ass through a wall, katori surprised everyone by stepping forward, lifting the creep by his shirt and using one arm to chuck him across the road. creep was knocked unconscious.**

**"whoa! got him good. what a weirdo. hey, Hikage-chan you know that guy?" seichi inclined his head in the creep's direction **

**"no, barely ever seen him before in my life."**

**"little moron. you shouldn't let strangers touch you." katori just had to chime in.**

**"kutabare, jackass, I didn't ask you to get in the way I could take that loser with both hands tied behind my back while blindfolded! your the one losing your temper like a child." **

**seichi sighed and patted chachamori's head while his teammates argued. those two never changed. the thought made the inuzuka smile to himself.**

* * *

><p>that was such a stupid memory. she and katori hadn't been talking for a while. it was depressing. she arrived at erizu's little house just in time to decide she didn't want to be there. Hikage turned on her heel and leaped up to the nearest roof. she was off to the hokage tower to ask the record keeper guys if they knew how to get to the murakami compound.<p>

it was a short run across the rooftops but Hikage loved the exhilarating sensation of every jump. she was in love with the sounds and sights and smell of her village. konoha meant more to her than her own life.

true it was annoying that her whole clan had died because they rushed to defend konoha but Hikage couldn't remember a time when she hadn't understood their actions. it wasn't about buildings, or a forest it was the _spirit _of the hidden leaf village that all shinobi held dear. and for something so precious if her life was all she had to give, how could she not give it? Hikage held the will of fire in her heart and everyone who encountered her could feel that.

what hikage didn't realize was that that was precisely why the hokage had agreed to train her. it was why every konoha ninja knew Hikage could never turn traitor.

it was an okay day. it was getting a little cloudy, but clearly wouldn't rain. it was a bit on the hot side, temperature wise. Hikage enjoyed the rhythm her leaps created. she was almost to the hokage tower. she really didn't want to see any stupid old abandoned compound on her first day of training. but, in a way it made sense. Hikage didn't even remember her clan symbol.

finally, she was in sight of the tower. Hikage walked in, signed in, as all shinobi were now required to do upon entrance. then she asked about the information center. then she sat in the waiting room for a solid hour. then she was told to wait in line six. then line two. then she was told to wait for twenty minutes. then she was called to a desk in front of a vault where she had to explain her purpose _again_ and sign a few papers, the she was handed two scrolls and sent on her way.

one scroll contained directions to the actual compound, thank everything in existence.

so at long last Hikage was headed to the place she was born. and found absolutely nothing. a ten minute trip at shinobi speed and nothing. hikage almost lost her temper right there. this was turning out to be the worst day ever.

instead of going ape shit on the surrounding trees like she wanted to, Hikage opened the second scroll. she checked every thing it said to and then it said to find a large redwood with a small black dragon carved and painted on. she did. then things got weird. she was to press a little blood on the murakami clan symbol, which was apparently this spikey black Chinese dragon (see cover pic) and then it held a list of handsigns to be done.

Hikage performed the seals hastily, then suddenly the genjutsu hiding the compound came undone. Hikage bonked herself on the head. how obvious. there were no dense forests like this within the gates of the village. plus, if the entire clan just went charging off to battle the compound had to be protected somehow.

a large gate replaced the tree and beyond it, the small district that belonged to her clan.

Hikage nervously let herself in. the place looked pretty normal aside from the clan dragon on nearly everything. plants grew wild in what had clearly started as well kept gardens. little shops and kiosks dotted among the homes. a long walk led to the heart of the compound and a large manor. Hikage felt the strangest jolt of recognition inside when she looked at the abandoned home. she tentatively entered and removed her shoes. her feet knew the way somehow.

next thing she knew Hikage was sliding open a door on the second floor hidden within a complex system of hallways. the room was not what Hikage expected. no frills. a few stuffed animals. a bed that was too big for her, even now. her name in kanji was painted in black on both sides of the door though. the walls were plum purple, a huge clan symbol painted in black on the far wall, the dark wood floor was covered in a thin layer of dust that got between hikage's toes. small mats in different shades of purple and black peppered the room. round paper lanterns hung from the ceiling, and drew Hikage's attention to the night sky painted on it. no moon.

well... okay. what kind of one year old lived in here? it was no surprise that even as an infant, everything was purple or black. for the same reason everything of sanami's was red or black. the children dressed in order according to the visible light spectrum. fist born is red and black. second is purple and black, third is blue and black and so on. most of the time they only had to dress according to birth at official or formal events but when the clan was wiped out sanami and hikage started to do it all the time, to honor the clan wishes.

Hikage looked down at her outfit then pondered the little freedom she claimed with her dark yellowish tank top worn under her short sleeved black shirt that hung off her shoulders. her dark purple baggy short shorts. her purple arm warmers. Hikage had never admitted to anyone that she didn't even like purple that much.

she knew this wasn't what she came for. she needed offices full of documents about the mugen no masuta. she should go back to looking. Hikage carefully stepped out of the bedroom and back into the hall. shinobi had to have incredible memory retention for information gathering. the murakami clan was always trying to make their clan stronger yet they were never really noticed by the village.

Hikage trailed the halls but stopped short at the name in kanji on another bedroom door. murakami sanami. she almost went in. she started to slide the door. she came to her senses and decided against it. it was almost painful to turn her back and walk away.

after checking a ton of rooms Hikage found a simple looking home office. after searching the place top to bottom, she knew there was something she was missing. there was nothing pertaining to the clan's kekkai genkkei among the records and files in the office. that was impossible. and the room woul look way less crowded if not for the fact that an entire wall was empty and bared the murakami dragon. (see cover pic)

come to think of it almost every room she saw had a whole wall empty with a clan symbol on it. what was the point of that? it looked cool in a way but what a waste of space.

there was some big picture she was missing, Hikage was sure of it.

she just had to think. think harder that is.

'_this is stupid why couldn't they just put a big red **X **somewhere and leave a note saying "this is where we hide our special clan junk" I mean it would help. we never were the villages favorite clan, so its not like we have hordes of spies trying to figure out how our kekkai genkkei works. which is sooo unfair, the mugen no masuta is amazing! we so deserve a dragon as our clan symbol... that's us... oh I got it!'_

hikage, like all murakamis could remember almost every moment of her life if she had to. she could remember what her father had said to sanami after she complained about the clan being overlooked on day after training at the academy.

**"the members of the murakami clan are the dragons that breathe the will of fire. its up to us to defend honor and uphold konoha. we are the protectors of the village that don't need fame, or glory or even privilege. don't ever forget that sanami-chan"**

she whispered along to the memory. what did that even mean? some clans had little sayings like that.

the uchihas were the fans that manipulated the will of fire. wow, they even _sounded_ like traitorous manipulative scum with a group superiority complex that probably got off on their own over blown egos. not to be rude or anything.

so what did her clan sound like to other people? the dragons that breath the will of fire. Hikage really liked the sound of that.

but how did it help her right now? simple. the wall that held the clan symbol? a person with the mugen no masuta could use it to enhance a wind jutsu that was usually used to distract an enemy from noticing a shinobi moving through trees. the jutsu would temporarily remove the wall paper to reveal a sliding door baring what looked like a big complicated combination lock with letters not numbers. then a person would enter the phrase the members of the murakami clan are the dragons that breath the will of fire and the lock would open. then a murakami would insert a little chakra into the lock inside that lock and the door would open.

weird logic but it worked.

it opened! Hikage was finally getting somewhere. turned out every wall in the house was just a hidden hallway. how stupid and cliché was that? the halls were dim, and the walls were lined with scrolls. thousands of documents, records, etc.

this was exactly what she had been looking for. the sections were even labeled! she passed several small offices that were like dim little hidey holes with office stuff in them.

Hikage stopped and almost droped the scrolls she carried when she saw her name on one of the office name plates. (the place was so labeled and organized and easy to navigate- it was impressive)

she let out a breath when she realized it was _not_ her name. murakami hika**zo** so it was close...

Hikage let herself into the dead man's office. it was just like all the other offices. but different. several pictures on a small shelf. one appeared to be a wedding, a man with crazy spikey hair the darkest shade of brown Hikage could imagine without being black. he was wearing the traditional wedding kimono his eyes were slate gray. he looked like he was trying to look serious but he just couldn't quite manage it actually his expression reminded Hikage of herself a little. the woman beside him had big pretty soft greenish grey eyes and shiny blond hair in a complex updo with decorative jeweled chopsticks. she looked incredible with peach skin, a light blush, and petal pink lips. her wedding kimono looked like it cost more than everything Hikage owned.

she really was beautiful. and so _familiar_ looking. the rather obvious realization hit whe she glanced a little to thr right and saw a picture if the blonde woman and what was clearly a much younger sanami at a festival, the blonde woman held a wide eyed dark haired baby in her arms.

these were her parents. that baby was her.

Hikage found herself searching the whole office. she learned her parents names, Hikazo, her father, and Sunako, her mother.

she learned that murakamis only had children once every five years, on account of the fact that their kekkei genkkei could only be passed down at those intervals. no one knew why.

she learned that she was intentionally named similarly to her father.

she figured she should leave. she had no idea how long she'd been here. Hikage huffed and left with two armfuls of scrolls.

as she was exiting the compound she stared at the murakami dragons all over the place. the tiny kiosks full of items baring the symbol. Hikage was struck with an idea.

she ran into one of the shops and grabbed a few black shirts and a few shits different shades of purple. she go a bit excited and ended up going to all the shops at least once. Hikage now had bags and bags of cloths that were adorned with her clan symbol. she also grabbed extra bags for the scrolls. she decided to take her stuff to a tailor to get the symbol on every piece of clothing she owned.

* * *

><p>it was sunset when Hikage finally got everything back to her apartment and was on her way to report her findings to the hokage naruto-sensei.

Hikage stepped forward and was shocked when the anbu simply let her through without question.

nobody stopped her or even stepped in her path. actually, the anbu guarding the hokage's office held the door open for her and nodded in respect.

WTF?! for all they knew she was here to assassinate the hokage, and they held the door open for her?

"Hikage-chan! how'd it go? did you find anything?! (insert loud blah blah blah and rambling from naruto)"

Hikage bowed quickly.

"hai, hokage-sama,-I mean naruto sensei, I found several helpful scrolls and records to aid in my training, and I've decided to start wearing my clan insignia, the murakami dragon."

she turned around and gestured to the black dragon that was a darker shade of black than the rest of the off the shoulders long sleeved shirt that currently replaced her usual short sleeves and arm warmers. the trim of the shirt was a deep plum.

"great! your already a totally awesome apprentice, the teme was stupid to turn you down, we'll show the bastard. BELIEVE IT! man, we really gotta hit the training grounds if we're gonna beat sakura-chan and her new apprentice, can you believe that? the day after I get my first disciple"

Hikage had a lot of awe and respect and the like for the hokage and second generation toad sage but she stopped listening to him at that point. she was dwelling on the word 'apprentice' she was apprentice to the hokage. she hadn't really considered what that meant yet. it explained the sudden reverence of the hokage's employees. now she had to make the hokage, her (deceased) clan _and_ the entire village proud.

Hikage couldn't wait.


End file.
